Category: Success

I recently recorded a Facebook Live video about this and I found that it was pretty shocking to people that they didn’t even realize that they were doing this. Most people don’t. Facebook has even caught onto how often it’s done and has even altered everyone’s posts to enhance it.

How many times have you eaten at a great restaurant and had the best burger or meal you’ve ever had and told your friends about it? How many times did you check out a new restaurant and recommend it to your friends? Probably a lot.

How many times have you come out of watching a movie and told your friends and family about it? How many times have you told someone that they should go see that movie? Tons!

How many times have you shared a video of some company doing something kind or caring for someone or have shared some “feel good” story about what some business has done? Probably a good bit as well.

Just the past two weeks I recommended an awesome protein pancake mix on Facebook and I’ve had numerous people message me that they bought it based off of my recommendation. I seriously had people go to the store specifically for it because I made a post about it. These people never would’ve bought it if it wasn’t for me posting about it. Have you ever done something like that? Sure you have.

Guess what you did when you do any/all of the above? You gave those movie producers, restaurant owners, businesses, free marketing. They didn’t even have to pay for your word of mouth marketing and they gained business from it. You found something you liked. You recommended it to your friends. They followed your recommendation. Those businesses benefited from it. You got NOTHING.

The fact is, we do free marketing for companies all the time. We do it so much that Facebook has caught on and now has altered the way recommendations show up in your news feed. Know what type of marketing that’s called? Network marketing! That’s right… you’re engaged in network marketing all the time; you’re just not getting paid for it.

Wouldn’t it be nice if when you recommended a movie, let’s say Jumanji, those movie producers paid you when your friends and family who you recommended it to went and saw it? How nice would it be that not only would you get paid when they saw it, but let’s say they recommended it to their friends as well and the movie producers said, “Hey, these people likely wouldn’t have seen our movie if it wasn’t for your initial recommendation to their friends who then referred these people, so we want to pay you for the income we made from those people to!” That’d be awesome!

Well, that’s what my wife and I do. We get paid for referrals. We also get paid for the referrals that our friends make as well because they never would’ve been using our products if it wasn’t for our initial recommendation. So when people say, “I can’t do what you do,” the chances that they’re already doing it are about 100%. They just don’t get paid for it.

Like this:

The network marketing profession is one in which I have embraced for the past 5 years now. My intrigue 5 years ago turned into a love and complete embrace of it somewhere along the journey. There’s no doubt that for those that have an entrepreneurial bone in their bodies that it’s the greatest profession on earth and that’s why so many people decide to join a network marketing company. They see the possibility of their hopes and dreams being fulfilled and the realization and wake up call that their job will never fulfill them.

Because the profession is so attractive it draws so many types of people for so many types of reasons, which is both good and bad. You’ll have the people that see it as a way to earn a living while serving others’ needs and you’ll also have people who are just trying to make some quick money by any means necessary. The problem is that we all tend to get lumped in together. Someone may have a poor experience with one person or one company and then all of a sudden “all network marketing companies and network marketers are the same.” People who are genuinely in need of this are turned off because they think they have to do whatever the person who turned them off of it did. They think company ABC is the same as company XYZ just because both companies use the direct sales model to distribute their products, which is ridiculous because you don’t stop shopping at Target just because you had a bad experience at Wal-mart. You don’t assume that every retail store is the same because one of them has horrible customer service or their salesmen are like vultures… I digress.

That being said, I can understand where people are coming from with these notions. There are enough people out there going about this the wrong way for the wrong reasons that it surely can give the appearance that all network marketers are like that and what happens is that it hurts the profession as a whole. Let me be the first to admit, I made salesly social media posts and I’m sure sounded ridiculous when I first started talking with people. So, to my network marketing friends, I decided to give you some professional advice because I’m tired of face paling from seeing all the complaints about network marketers on my newsfeed and hearing stories from friends.

1. Stop asking people to buy something from you just so you can hit some new goal or advance in some rank. This is by far the most infuriating thing I’ve seen from people in this profession. If you’re asking them to do something so you can benefit, not them, then you’re in this for the wrong reason. If your means to your goal is to beg people to fit your product/service into their budget for the sole purpose of increasing yours, then you need to find a new profession. If you can’t show them the value in using your products or service and they don’t willingly purchase them then certainly don’t beg them to do it so you can make more money. Your job is to add value to the marketplace. Begging people to help you hit your goals isn’t doing that.

2. Ask people’s permission regarding private Facebook groups. Stop adding everyone on your friends list into groups that they didn’t ask to join. If you can’t show them the value of being added to some private Facebook group (and you’ll know if you did or not when you ask their permission) then you just don’t add them. It’s that simple.

3. Stop announcing on social media that “if anyone wants to buy something let me know.” Additionally, stop posting your link asking people to hop on your site and order from it. There’s nothing more “salesy” than that. It’s terrible. I mean really really terrible and unattractive. Sure, let people know what you’re doing. That’s a good thing. You want people to know you’re in business and what business you’re in, but don’t let them know just so you can ask them to buy something in the same sentence.

4. Best advice of all: Start trying to solve problems and stop trying to sell products/services. If you’re trying to sell someone something then you’re only worried about making a sale and not focused on helping someone else. Find out what problem your product/service would solve for someone and then provide the solution. If you do that and they don’t see how you can help them and they tell you they don’t want your product/service then the next step isn’t to try to find some product/any product that they’ll buy. The next step is to move on because there are numerous other people who need or want what you have. Have an abundance mindset, not a scarcity mindset. (Read more on this here: The Finite Pie)

5. Invite people to join you. If they don’t take the invitation then oh well. Seriously… them not joining you isn’t going to stop you from being successful. In most cases they’re missing out, but that’s their choice. Let them live with their choice and you move on with yours.

There are so many more tips that I could offer, but these are the main complaints I’ve seen or heard about. We are already fighting an uphill battle because people don’t understand what we do because it’s different. So let’s not make it a steeper hill for ourselves by continuing the aforementioned actions.

Like this:

Several years ago, five to be exact, I had never heard the term “work smart.” I didn’t know the difference between working hard and working smart because working hard was all I knew how to do. If I needed more money the only thing I knew to do was to work more hours. If my current job didn’t allow me to work anymore hours than I was already working then I just had to get a second job. If that wasn’t enough to earn what I needed to earn then I started doing other income producing activities on the side, which took up more time. Trading hours for dollars was common and it’s what I became accustomed to.

Trading hours for dollars was common and it’s what I became accustomed to.

Five years ago I was working a full-time 8-5 job practicing law, running a CrossFit box before and after my full-time job, owned and operated an online fitness apparel company, and was also putting designs on clothing on sites like Zazzle and CafePress to earn some extra income. All of that lead to me working 18 hours a day. So I know what working hard and working a lot is, but working smart was not on my radar.

A lot of people who own businesses or make investments tend to look at the ROI (return on investment) before they put money into something. I was on the other end of the spectrum. I was working so hard because I didn’t have any money to begin with. The only thing I had to invest was my time. It wasn’t until 5 years ago when I was introduced to an opportunity that allowed me to earn a lot more money with a lot less time, which forced me to value my time more. Instead of spending several hours a week on my online apparel business, I decided to close that business; not because it wasn’t successful, it was actually very successful, but I made that decision because at that time I was earning nearly three times that amount with the same amount of time doing something else. I decided to spend my time where I would get the greatest return for my time investment.

When I understood that I began to look at all areas of my life where I was spending income producing time. The next thing on the chopping block was the CrossFit box. I LOVE LOVE LOVE training people! It’s a passion of mine, but I had debt to eliminate and a serious financial hole that I had to climb out of and CrossFit was taking up a lot of time out of my schedule, but wasn’t producing the income I needed. In my first month of this new opportunity I replaced what I made running the CrossFit box and several months later I walked away from training.

A couple months after that I met my wife. We got married and then 11 months later were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Needless to say I didn’t want to spend the majority of my time working and instead wanted to spend it with what mattered the most – my family. So I looked at what was taking up most of my time which was my full-time job. In my first year with my new business opportunity I nearly matched my salary practicing law and in my second year I nearly doubled it. So I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize my time practicing law was worth less than half of my time building my business. In 2016 I walked away from that too.

I posted this question on social media earlier this week: “Would you rather work 8 hours at $10/hour ($80 in 8 hours) OR work 10 minutes and earn $80? (10 min. vs 8 hours for the same pay)”

Seems pretty simple, right? You’re probably thinking “I’d be a fool to work 7 hours and 50 minutes more than I need” yet people do it every day.

There are so many opportunities out there that produce a much higher ROI, but people either 1) Don’t know about them; 2) Know about them, but they talk themselves out of it without trying (this is the biggest one); or 3) Think they’re too busy to take on anything else (if this is you and you got to this point of this article then go back and read everything above again because you missed it).

The point of all this is that you don’t have to spend time away from the things you want to do or the people you want to be around and doing so is by your own choosing because now you know there’s an opportunity out there that’ll give you that time freedom – one where you can work smart and not hard. Be different than the “masses” because many times the “m” is silent. 😉

Like this:

The quality is poor in this picture on the left, but then again so was the quality of my life back then. For YEARS I lived a life where the most common question among my friends wasn’t “are we going out tonight” and instead was “where are we going out to drink tonight.” It was an every day thing. Getting drunk wasn’t ever the goal. We just wanted to get drinks after work. It was just a social thing – what everyone did. It was a formed habit. The topic of conversation each night… gossip, gossip, and more gossip. Until 2013 that’s just what I did and then I had a sort of awakening one day.

I don’t even know how to explain it. I just remember meeting everyone out one night after work and after the gym and when I got to the bar I had a moment where time nearly stood still. I saw people whose marriages were falling apart from constant drinking, I saw people cheating on their significant others, I saw people getting in fights in one corner of the bar, I saw people stumbling around slurring their speech and embarrassing themselves, among many other things. None of these things were commonplace by any means, but I think all of it was happening at once so God could show me that there was no bright future going down the track I was headed down. At that moment I walked out of the bar having not even had time to open up a tab and never turned back.

So much time was wasted every day after work for years when I could’ve been spending time becoming a greater version of myself. I’ll never get that time back and I really don’t spend time concerned about that time lost. All I can control is the controllables and one controllable in my life is how I spend my time now. If I have spare time now I listen to personal growth and development podcasts. I listen to talks and watch YouTube videos on business. Mariah and I watch videos and read books to grow deeper in our faith. We are committed to growth in all meaningful areas of our lives. It is a simple exchange we chose to make. We have chosen to exchange pouring alcohol into ourselves for the pouring of leadership and personal development into ourselves.

This is not a condemnation on drinking or a judgment on anyone who does. I don’t think it’s wrong or bad to have a glass of wine or a beer, but that’s not where I was at back then and the frequency of the social drinking was terrible. I just simply realized that I didn’t know anyone’s life that was improved from it and knew that nothing in my life was going to get better from continuing that social habit. I was right. When I broke that habit and began spending that wasted time on something meaningful my whole life changed.

Look at what has happened since I made those positive changes! I’m married to an AMAZING woman and mother, I now have two BEAUTIFUL children, I have hung out with my man-crush Drew Brees TWICE, I built an incredible business with my wife which provides an awesome residual income stream for our family, and I had the honor of speaking on stage in Dallas Cowboy Stadium at a leadership event in front of 20,000 people!

Time is important and is our most valuable resource. Once it’s gone it’s gone and you’ll never get it back. Spend the time you have on this side of the grass wisely. Create meaningful relationships and know that your friends and associations are either stretching you or choking you. Cut bad habits, cut the cable, quit reading and watching the news, and instead spend time doing things that matter.

“Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.” – Roger Babson

Like this:

There’s a theme that I’ve heard in many talks and have read in many books that has presented itself in real life to me time and time again. It’s the theme of Broke Uncle Joe. We all have a Broke Uncle Joe. You may call him by another name, but you have one for sure. So who is Broke Uncle Joe?

None of us are perfect. Subconsciously knowing that we aren’t perfect we tend to seek advice from family, friends, co-workers, and others. We do it before making small decisions and even more frequently in larger ones. Some people may even do it because they care what people think of them. Here’s the problem in seeking advice from certain people… you have to be cautious not to take poor advice from people who have good intentions.

Your family members aren’t intentionally going to give you poor advice. They’re going to tell you what they think is best for you even if they have no clue about the subject matter that is involved in the decision. As well-intentioned as their advice may be, if they don’t have knowledge of the subject matter then it may just be poor advice.

So here is where Broke Uncle Joe comes into play…

Let’s say you are thinking about starting a new business. You go tell your Broke Uncle Joe what you’re thinking and he tells you not to do it. In fact, he warns you not to do it. He tells you that it’s a bad idea and that you’d be better off saving your money or spending it on something else. Here’s the thing about Uncle Joe though, he broke. He’s been an employee his entire life and knows nothing about starting a business. He’s resolved to the mindset of work til retirement instead of working for it. He lives paycheck to paycheck and depends on his employer to put food on his table.

So, why should you go to your Broke Uncle Joe and ask him his opinion? You shouldn’t, yet people do it ALL THE TIME except it’s not their uncle. It’s their friends. It’s their co-workers. It’s some of their family members. That’s their Uncle Joe.

Let’s say you are having marital problems. Would you think it’s wise to seek marital advice from a friend who is single or has been divorced multiple times? It doesn’t matter how many people you talk to who are similarly situated. Thomas Carlyle said it perfectly, “I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”

Wouldn’t it make much more sense to seek advice from someone who has what you want? If you’re having marital issues, wouldn’t it be wise to seek counsel from someone who has a thriving marriage? If you want to be a millionaire, wouldn’t it make sense to ask millionaires how they became so wealthy instead of asking your Broke Uncle Joe who isn’t?

So keep this all in mind when you seek advice from well-intentioned people.

If your thoughts determine your outcome then it would reason that to control your outcome you first must control how you generate your thoughts. What goes in is always what will come out. Our thoughts are generated by what we fill our mind with day to day.

Ever hear the concept that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with? Jim Rohn said it and it’ll be just as true when he said it as it will be long after you’re gone. It relates to the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes. This doesn’t just apply to the average of your friends, but to EVERYTHING you choose to surround yourself with.

If you hang around negative unsuccessful people then you too will become negative and unsuccessful. Your income will be the average of their income. So wouldn’t it make sense that if you start hanging out with successful people and millionaires that you too will become successful and have a better chance of becoming a millionaire?

This works the same way with other areas of your life. If you engage in negativity through social media (very easy to do with political or media outlets) then you’ll have a negative mindset. If you “follow” negative pages and filth then that’s what will come out of your mouth and what will consume your thoughts. Your thoughts will become the average of the things you surround yourself and allow in your mind.

“What we tolerate we give permission to exist.”

Just as you fuel your body with food, fuel your mind with positive thoughts. Turn off the news. Unfollow negative and media Facebook and Twitter accounts. Instead follow positive Facebook accounts, listen to motivating podcasts, read books on success and personal growth, and surround yourself with people more successful than you. Iron sharpens iron.

If you have already begun applying some of those actions, I would love your podcast and book suggestions. I’m always looking to grow my repertoire.

Countless motivational posters, videos, and speeches preach to people to “never quit.” You should “never quit” on your dreams. You should “never quit” on your goals. You should “never quit” on anything you want in life. Although it is important that you never quit, it doesn’t ensure that you’ll have monumental success and achieve greatness. It also doesn’t guarantee that you’ll achieve your goals and dreams. You can coast through life and never quit on your goals by doing the bare-minimum to achieve them and you just may possibly reach them especially if your goals are small.

Think about this example: Let’s say you are a door-to-door salesman selling vacuum cleaners (yes, people did that back in the day). You have a dream of being a millionaire because you want to be able to give more money to worthy causes, have no debt, own your house and cars out-right, have time and financial freedom, etc. Let’s also say that you have a resolution to “never quit.” You could “never quit” selling vacuums by going to one new house each month, knock on the door, and tell someone about your vacuum and technically you haven’t quit. You could do that once a year and still technically you wouldn’t have quit. So do you think you’d ever be a millionaire and achieve great success with just a “never quit” attitude? Probably not.

If you would like to reach your goals fast, achieve great success – more success than you could ever dream of achieving, then it’ll take more than a never quit mentality. It’ll take a “whatever it takes” mentality. When you have that mentality the light switch is flipped and then all of a sudden you go into overdrive. The goals you have are surpassed faster than you could’ve imaged and you’re now being forced to set new goals that you never dreamed of having. Your entire life changes.